Intelligent bluetooth beacon i/o expansion system

ABSTRACT

Apparatus, methods and system relating to a vehicular telemetry environment for an intelligent Bluetooth beacon I/O expansion of the vehicular telemetry hardware system. The intelligent Bluetooth beacon I/O expansion provides a capability to receive beacon data, log beacon data, communicate beacon data and operate on beacon data to determine and further communicate a range of operational conditions, such as damage, hazardous and missing objects in the form of text messages, audio messages or compliance and management reports.

This application is a continuation-in-part application and claims thepriority benefit of a divisional U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/121,847 filed Oct. 24, 2014 that claims a priority benefit to U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/506,478 filed Apr. 23, 2012 and entitled“Configurable Intelligent I/O Expansion System”.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to an apparatus, method andsystem for application in vehicular telemetry environment. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to an intelligent Bluetooth®beacon I/O (input/output) expansion system and services.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Vehicular Telemetry systems with I/O expansion and communicationcapabilities are known in the prior art.

United States published patent application 2004/0111191 to Jeroen et alis directed to a marine telematics system comprising a satcom unit on aboat, a user interface for the satcom unit, a web-based user interfacefor the telematics system, and a land-based center of operations. Theland-based center of operations receives signals from the satcom unit onthe boat about the location of the boat and sensor responses todetectable events. The marine telematics system is customizable througha web-based interface, allowing boat owners to provide information andinstructions to the land-based center of operations for handlingparticular situations that may arise while the boat is in use or atdock. The web-based interface further allows boat owners to plan voyagesby setting series of waypoints, and the land-based center of operationsmay assist the boat owners by providing feedback during their voyagesbased on the waypoint information previously provided by the boatowners. The marine telematics system of the invention allows users toremotely monitor the location of boats and events detected on boats, andto remotely activate equipment on boats.

United States published patent application 2001/0016789 to Staiger isdirected to an electronic control system for controlling the function ofa processing system, especially for the use in an automotive vehicle,wherein the control system comprises a plurality of logical controlelements, each of which is especially adapted to perform special tasks,whereby each of the control elements is able to communicate with everyother control element.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,228,211 to HTI is directed to an invention that providean in-vehicle telematics system featuring: 1) a controller; 2) adiagnostics system configured to receive diagnostic information from ahost vehicle; 3) a position-locating system configured to determine thehost vehicle's location information; 4) a communication interfaceconfigured to send additional information to a peripheral system otherthan the diagnostic position-locating systems; and 5) a wirelesstransmitter configured to transmit information through a wirelessnetwork to an Internet-accessible website.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,732,031 and 6,636,790 to Reynolds and Reynolds HoldingInc. is directed to a method and apparatus for remotely characterizing avehicle's performance. The method features the steps of: 1) generatingdata representative of the vehicle's performance with at least onemicrocontroller disposed within the vehicle; 2) transferring the datathrough an ODB, OBD-II or equivalent electrical connector to a datacollector/router that includes a microprocessor and an electricallyconnected wireless transmitter; 3) transmitting a data packetrepresenting the data with the wireless transmitter over an airlink to awireless communications system and then to a host computer; and 4)analyzing the data packet with the host computer to characterize thevehicle's performance.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,957,133 to Reynolds and Reynolds Holdings Inc. isdirected to a wireless appliance for monitoring a vehicle. The applianceincludes: 1) a microprocessor; 2) a vehicle-communication circuit; 3) aGPS module; and 4) a wireless transmitter. The wireless transmitterreceives and transmits location based data generated by the GPS moduleand diagnostic data collected by the vehicle-communication circuit. Thevehicle-communication circuit is integrated into a single ASIC thatincludes modules for managing different vehicle-communication protocols,such as, for example J1850 PWM, J1850 VPWM, ISO 9141-2, CAN, Keyword2000, and J170S.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,778,752 to HTI is directed to a system for connecting atelematics device to a host vehicle. The system may comprise ashort-range wireless transmitter and a short-range wireless receiver.The short-range wireless transmitter may be connected to an in-vehiclediagnostic system. The short-range wireless receiver may be connected tothe telematics device installed in the host vehicle. The short-rangewireless transmitter may be configured to wirelessly transmit diagnosticdata to the short-range wireless receiver.

United States published patent application 2011/0166742 is directed to asystem for connecting a telematics device to a host vehicle. The systemmay comprise a short-range wireless transmitter and a short-rangewireless receiver. The short-range wireless transmitter may be connectedto an in-vehicle diagnostic system. The short-range wireless receivermay be connected to the telematics device installed in the host vehicle.The short-range wireless transmitter may be configured to wirelesslytransmit diagnostic data to the short-range wireless receiver.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to aspects in a vehicular telemetryenvironment and provides a new capability for a telemetry wirelessbeacon apparatus, method and system.

According to a first broad aspect of the invention, there is a telemetrywireless beacon apparatus. The telemetry wireless beacon apparatuscomprises a wireless beacon communication device, and a vehicle device.The vehicle device further comprises a processor, firmware,communications processor, telematic sensors and an interface tocommunicate with a vehicle network communications bus. The processor andfirmware capable to monitor and receive data in real time from theinterface, the telematics sensors and said wireless beacon communicationdevice thereby capable to log the data for subsequent communication to aremote device.

According to a second broad aspect of the invention, there is atelemetry wireless beacon data monitoring and logging method. Thetelemetry wireless beacon data monitoring and logging method comprisesmonitoring and receiving data from at least one of an interface tovehicle engine data or telematics sensors. Receiving beacon dataprovided by a wireless beacon communication device, and logging data andbeacon data as telemetry data for subsequent communication to a remotedevice.

According to a third broad aspect of the invention, there is a telemetrywireless beacon data preprocessing method. The telemetry wireless beacondata preprocessing method comprises accessing a log of telemetry data.The telemetry data includes data and beacon data. Translating the datainto at least one of engine codes, G forces, or map locations. For eachunique identifier in the beacon data, translating the beacon data intoat least one of a beacon temperature, beacon pressure, beacon light,beacon acceleration, beacon battery level or beacon user defined sensorreading. Storing a preprocessing telemetry log of the telemetry data forfurther fleet management condition processing.

According to a fourth broad aspect of the invention, there is atelemetry wireless beacon system. The telemetry wireless beacon systemcomprises at least one wireless beacon communication device, at leastone beacon device, at least one remote device, and at least one vehicledevice. The at least one vehicle device further comprises a processor,firmware, communications processor, telematics sensors and an interfaceto communicate with a vehicle network communications bus. The at leastone beacon device capable to communicate beacon data with said wirelessbeacon communication device. The at least one vehicle device capable tocommunicate with the at least one remote device, wherein the processorand firmware capable to monitor and receive data from the interface, thetelematics sensors and the wireless beacon communication device therebycapable to log the data for subsequent communication to the at least oneremote device.

According to a fifth broad aspect of the invention, there is a telemetrywireless beacon data fleet management condition determination method.The telemetry wireless beacon data fleet management conditiondetermination method comprises providing at least access to first datathat identifies and associates beacon unique identifiers with objects,providing at least access to second data of threshold values and limitsassociated with beacon data, providing access to a preprocessingtelemetry log of telemetry data and determining each object locationlocated with a vehicle. The determine each object location with avehicle further comprising identifying each beacon unique identifierdisposed with an initial vehicle location. Identifying each beaconunique identifier disposed with a second vehicle location. The secondvehicle location determined by one of a speed, distance, location orgeofence, wherein the identifying each beacon unique identifier disposedwith a second vehicle location determines an accurate number of objectsdisposed with a vehicle.

In embodiments of the invention, the telematics sensors include at leastone of an accelerometer device or GPS device.

In embodiments of the invention, the wireless beacon communicationdevice is a Bluetooth wireless beacon communication device capable ofcommunicating with a beacon device.

In embodiments of the invention, the telemetry wireless beacon apparatusincludes at least one I/O expander.

In embodiments of the invention, the wireless beacon communicationdevice is integral with said vehicle device. In other embodiments of theinvention, the wireless beacon communication device is integral withsaid I/O expander. In other embodiments of the invention, the wirelessbeacon communication device is a device connectable to said I/Oexpander.

In embodiments of the invention, the at least one beacon device disposedwith at least one object. In other embodiments of the invention, the atleast one object is selected from the group of package, equipment,vehicle or people.

In embodiments of the invention, the data is selected from the group ofGPS data, engine data, vehicle data, speed data, position data,direction data or vehicle acceleration data. In other embodiments of theinvention, the data is further selected from the group of beacon uniqueidentifier data, beacon temperature data, beacon light data, beaconpressure data, beacon acceleration data, beacon battery data or beaconuser defined data.

In embodiments of the invention, the at least one beacon device furthercomprises a beacon processor, beacon firmware, beacon radio module andat least one of a beacon accelerometer and beacon sensors. Inembodiments of the invention, beacon sensors are selected from the groupof a temperature sensor, an illumination sensor, a pressure sensor, abattery sensor or a user defined sensor.

In embodiments of the invention, the telematics sensors include anaccelerometer and the data includes accelerometer data. In otherembodiments of the invention, the telematics sensors include a GPSdevice and the data includes location data. Data may also include enginedata and vehicle speed data.

In embodiments of the invention, receiving beacon data provided by awireless beacon communication device includes beacon data from a beacondevice.

In embodiments of the invention, receiving beacon data provided by awireless beacon communication device is received directly by a telemetrywireless beacon device. In other embodiments of the invention, receivingbeacon data provided by a wireless beacon communication device isreceived indirectly through an I/O expander.

In embodiments of the invention for the preprocessing method, furtherincluding preprocessing the data into at least one of a minimum value,maximum value or range of values. In other embodiments of the invention,preprocessing each of the beacon data associated with a uniqueidentifier into at least one of a minimum value, maximum value or rangeof values.

In embodiments of the invention for the preprocessing method, furtherincluding associating at least one of engine codes, G forces, vehiclespeed, and map location with each unique identifier and at least one ofa beacon temperature, beacon pressure, beacon light, beaconacceleration, beacon battery level, or beacon user defined sensorreading.

In embodiments of the invention, the wireless beacon communicationdevice is a Bluetooth wireless beacon communication device.

In embodiments of the telemetry wireless beacon data fleet managementcondition determination method, the method further comprises accessingthe preprocessing telemetry log of telemetry data, identifying thebeacon unique identifier and beacon data, comparing the beacon data withthe second data, when the beacon data is beyond a damage threshold ordamage limit value of the second data, communicate an object damagecondition. In embodiments of the invention, the damage threshold ordamage limit value is selected from the group of a G force, temperature,a pressure, or a user defined sensor value.

In embodiments of the telemetry wireless beacon data fleet managementcondition determination method, the method further comprises accessingthe preprocessing telemetry log of telemetry data, identifying thebeacon unique identifier and beacon data, comparing the beacon data withthe second data, when the beacon data is beyond a hazardous threshold orhazardous limit value of the second data, communicate a hazardous objectcondition. In embodiments of the invention, the hazardous threshold ordamage limit value is selected from the group of a G force, temperature,a pressure, or a user defined sensor value.

In embodiments of the telemetry wireless beacon data fleet managementcondition determination method, the method further comprises accessingthe preprocessing telemetry log of telemetry data, identifying thebeacon unique identifier and beacon data, for a beacon uniqueidentifier, comparing the beacon unique identifier with the secondvehicle location to the presence or absence of the beacon uniqueidentifier at a third vehicle location, and communicate a missing objectcondition if the beacon unique identifier is absence at the thirdvehicle location.

In embodiment of the telemetry wireless beacon data fleet managementcondition determination method, the determination and communication of acondition is one of a message to an I/O expander where the message isconverted from text to speech as an audio alarm, a message on acomputer, a compliance report or a flett management report.

These and other aspects and features of non-limiting embodiments areapparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the followingdetailed description of the non-limiting embodiments and theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary non-limiting embodiments of the present invention aredescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a high level diagrammatic view of a vehicular telemetrycommunication environment;

FIG. 2 is diagrammatic view of an vehicular telemetry hardware systemincluding an on-board portion and a resident vehicular portion;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view of an intelligent I/O hardware expander;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view of an embodiment of the inventionillustrating a vehicular telemetry hardware system directlyinterconnected to a first intelligent I/O expander;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a series of interconnected intelligentI/O hardware expanders;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view of an alternate approach illustrating avehicular telemetry hardware system indirectly interconnected to a firstintelligent I/O expander through a gateway;

FIG. 7A is a diagrammatic view of an embodiment of the inventionillustrating a Bluetooth module integrated with an intelligent I/Oexpander and capable of communication with a beacon module;

FIG. 7B is a diagrammatic view of another embodiment of the inventionillustrating a Bluetooth module in the form of a device interconnectedwith an intelligent I/O expander and capable of communication with abeacon module;

FIG. 7C is a diagrammatic view of another embodiment of the inventionillustrating a Bluetooth module integrated with a vehicular telemetryhardware device and capable of communication with a beacon module;

FIG. 8 is a high level flowchart for initialization of an intelligentI/O expander and a vehicular telemetry hardware system for the case ofan I/O expander configured as a serial port type;

FIG. 9 is a high level flowchart for communication within the system forthe case of an I/O expander configured as a serial port type;

FIG. 10 is a high level flow chart for initialization of an intelligentI/O expander and a vehicular telemetry hardware system for the case ofan I/O expander configured as an auxiliaries port type and activeexpander mode;

FIG. 11 is a high level flow chart for communication within the systemfor the case of an I/O expander configured as an auxiliaries port typeand active expander mode;

FIG. 12 is a diagrammatic view of message communication over acommunications network between a server, vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem, and an intelligent I/O expander configured as a serial porttype, passive expander mode with a vehicular telemetry hardware systemactive serial control mode,

FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic view of message communication over acommunications network between a server, vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem and an intelligent I/O expander configured as a serial type,passive expander mode with a vehicular telemetry hardware system passiveserial control mode;

FIG. 14 is a diagrammatic view of message communication over acommunications network between a server, vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem, and an intelligent I/O expander configured as an auxiliariestype, active expander mode, and receiving monitoring characteristics;

FIG. 15 is a diagrammatic view of message communication over acommunications network between a server, vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem, and an intelligent I/O expander configured as an auxiliariestype, active expander mode, sensing auxiliaries data;

FIG. 16 is a diagrammatic view of message communication over acommunications network between a server, vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem, resident vehicular portion with vehicle data and information,and an intelligent I/O expander with satellite communicationscapability;

FIG. 17 is a diagrammatic view of a vehicle on-board device firmwaremethod to monitor, receive, log and communicate data to a remote devicethat may receive, pre-process and associate data from the log of data;and

FIG. 18 is a diagrammatic view of a remote device method to identify andassociate different object conditions and corrective actiondetermination.

The drawings are not necessarily to scale and may be diagrammaticrepresentations of the exemplary non-limiting embodiments of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Telematic Communication System

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, there is illustrated a high leveloverview of a telematic communication environment. There is at least onevehicle generally indicated at 11. The vehicle 11 includes a vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30 and a resident vehicular portion 42.Optionally connected to the telemetry hardware system 30 is at least oneintelligent I/O expander 50. In addition, there is at least oneBluetooth module 45 for communication with at least one of the vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30 or the intelligent I/O expander 50. TheBluetooth module 45 may also be in periodic communication with at leastone Bluetooth beacon 21. The at least one Bluetooth beacon may beattached or affixed or associated with at least one object 22 associatedwith the vehicle 11 to provide a range of indications concerning theobjects. These objects include, but are not limited to packages,equipment, drivers and support personnel.

The telematic communication environment provides communication andexchange of data, information, commands, and messages between theservers 19, computers 20 (desktop computers, hand held device computers,smart phone computers, tablet computers, notebook computers, wearabledevices and other computing devices), and vehicles 11. In one example,the communication 12 is to/from a satellite 13. The satellite 13 in turncommunicates with a ground-based system 15 connected to a computernetwork 18. In another example, the communication 16 is to/from acellular network 17 connected to the computer network 18. In anembodiment of the invention, communication 16 to/from the cellularnetwork 17 is facilitated by the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30.In another embodiment of the invention, an intelligent I/O expander 50facilitates communication 12 to/from the satellite 13. Further examplesof communication devices include WiFi devices and Bluetooth devices.

Computer 20 and server 19 with corresponding application softwarecommunicate over the computer network 18. In an embodiment of theinvention, the MyGeotab™ telematic application software runs on a server19. Clients operating a computer 20 communicate with the MyGeotab™application software running on the server 19. Data, information,messages and commands may be sent and received over the telemeticcommunication environment between the vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30, intelligent I/O expander 50, and the server 19. While thediagram illustrates s single server 19 and computer 20, the inventionmay include a plurality of servers 19 and computers 20 accessing thenetwork 18.

In an embodiment of the invention, data and information may be sent fromthe vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 to the cellular network 17,to the computer network 18, and to the servers 19. Computers 20 mayaccess the data and information on the servers 19. Alternatively, data,information, and commands may be sent from the servers 19, to thenetwork 19, to the cellular network 17, and to the vehicular telemetryhardware system 30.

In another embodiment of the invention, data and information may be sentfrom vehicular telemetry hardware system to an intelligent I/O expander50, to an Iridum™ device, the satellite 13, the ground based station 15,the computer network 18, and to the servers 19. Computers 20 may accessdata and information on the servers 19. In another embodiment of theinvention, data, information, and commands may be sent from the servers19, to the computer network 18, the ground based station 15, thesatellite 13, an Iridium device, to an intelligent I/O expander 50, andto a vehicular telemetry hardware system.

Vehicular Telemetry Hardware System

Referring now to FIG. 2 of the drawings, there is illustrated avehicular telemetry hardware system generally indicated at 30. Theon-board portion generally includes: a DTE (data terminal equipment)telemetry microprocessor 31; a DCE (data communications equipment)wireless telemetry communications microprocessor 32; a GPS (globalpositioning system) module 33; an accelerometer 34; a non-volatilememory 35; and provision for an OBD (on board diagnostics) interface 36for connection 43 and communicating with a vehicle networkcommunications bus 37.

The resident vehicular portion 42 generally includes: the vehiclenetwork communications bus 37; the ECM (electronic control module) 38;the PCM (power train control module) 40; the ECUs (electronic controlunits) 41; and other engine control/monitor computers andmicrocontrollers 39.

While the system is described as having an on-board portion 30 and aresident vehicular portion 42, it is also understood that the presentinvention could be a complete resident vehicular system or a completeon-board system.

The DTE telemetry microprocessor is interconnected with the OBDinterface 36 for communication with the vehicle network communicationsbus 37. The vehicle network communications bus 37 in turn connects forcommunication with the ECM 38, the engine control/monitor computers andmicrocontrollers 39, the PCM 40, and the ECU 41.

The DTE telemetry microprocessor has the ability through the OBDinterface 36 when connected to the vehicle network communications bus 37to monitor and receive vehicle data and information from the residentvehicular system components for further processing.

As a brief non-limiting example of vehicle data and information, thelist may include: VIN (vehicle identification number), current odometerreading, current speed, engine RPM, battery voltage, engine coolanttemperature, engine coolant level, accelerator peddle position, brakepeddle position, various manufacturer specific vehicle DTCs (diagnostictrouble codes), tire pressure, oil level, airbag status, seatbeltindication, emission control data, engine temperature, intake manifoldpressure, transmission data, braking information, and fuel level. It isfurther understood that the amount and type of vehicle data andinformation will change from manufacturer to manufacturer and evolvewith the introduction of additional vehicular technology.

Continuing now with the DTE telemetry microprocessor 31, it is furtherinterconnected for communication with the DCE wireless telemetrycommunications microprocessor 32. In an embodiment of the invention, anexample of the DCE wireless telemetry communications microprocessor 32is a Leon 100 commercially available from u-blox Corporation. The Leon100 provides mobile communications capability and functionality to thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30 for sending and receiving datato/from a remote site 44. A remote site 44 could be another vehicle or aground based station. The ground-based station may include one or moreservers 19 connected through a computer network 18 (see FIG. 1). Inaddition, the ground-based station may include computer applicationsoftware for data acquisition, analysis, and sending/receiving commandsto/from the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30.

The DTE telemetry microprocessor 31 is also interconnected forcommunication to the GPS module 33. In an embodiment of the invention,an example of the GPS module 33 is a Neo-5 commercially available fromu-blox Corporation. The Neo-5 provides GPS receiver capability andfunctionality to the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30.

The DTE telemetry microprocessor 31 is further interconnected with anexternal non-volatile memory 35. In an embodiment of the invention, anexample of the memory 35 is a 32 MB non-volatile memory storecommercially available from Atmel Corporation. The memory 35 of thepresent invention is used for data logging.

The DTE telemetry microprocessor 31 is further interconnected forcommunication with an accelerometer (34). An accelerometer (34) is adevice that measures the physical acceleration experienced by an object.Single and multi-axis models of accelerometers are available to detectthe magnitude and direction of the acceleration, or g-force, and thedevice may also be used to sense orientation, coordinate acceleration,vibration, shock, and falling.

In an embodiment of the invention, an example of a multi-axisaccelerometer (34) is the LIS302DL MEMS Motion Sensor commerciallyavailable from STMicroelectronics. The LIS302DL integrated circuit is anultra compact low-power three axes linear accelerometer that includes asensing element and an IC interface able to take the information fromthe sensing element and to provide the measured acceleration data toother devices, such as a DTE Telemetry Microprocessor (31), through anI2C/SPI (Inter-Integrated Circuit) (Serial Peripheral Interface) serialinterface. The LIS302DL integrated circuit has a user-selectable fullscale range of +−2 g and +−8 g, programmable thresholds, and is capableof measuring accelerations with an output data rate of 100 Hz or 400 Hz.

In an embodiment of the invention, the DTE telemetry microprocessor 31also includes an amount of internal memory for storing firmware thatexecutes in part, the method of the present invention as well as othermethods to operate and control the overall system. In addition, themicroprocessor 31 and firmware log data, format messages, receivemessages, and convert or reformat messages. In an embodiment of theinvention, an example of a DTE telemetry microprocessor 31 is a PIC24Hmicrocontroller commercially available from Microchip Corporation.

The vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 receives data and informationfrom the resident vehicular portion 42, the GPS module 33, theaccelerometer 43, and from configured intelligent I/O expanders 50. Thedata and information is stored in non-volatile memory 35 as a data log.The data log may be further transmitted by the vehicular telemetryhardware system 30 over the vehicular telemetry communicationenvironment to the server 19 (see FIG. 1). The transmission may becontrolled and set by the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 atpre-defined intervals. The transmission may also be triggered as aresult of a significant event such as an accident. The transmission mayfurther be requested by a command sent from the application softwarerunning on the server 19.

Intelligent I/O Expander Hardware System

Referring now to FIG. 3 of the drawings, there is illustrated anintelligent I/O expander generally indicated at 50.

The intelligent I/O expander 50 includes a messaging interface 53 for aconnection to a private bus 55 (in an embodiment of the invention, theprivate bus 55 is a cable connection, or private cable). The private bus55 provides for connection to other intelligent I/O expanders (see FIG.5) as well as the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 (see FIG. 4).In an embodiment of the invention, the messaging interface 53 andprivate bus 55 is based upon a CAN bus. The messaging interface 53includes five conductors. There are two power conductors (12-24 volts),a ground conductor, a CAN High conductor, and a CAN Low conductor.

Messaging on the private bus 55 is based upon a frame consisting of andID and a varying number of data bytes. The ID portion may be 11 bits or29 bits and the data may be zero to eight bytes of data. Messages may besent over the private bus 55 when the bus is idle. The vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30 and all intelligent I/O expanders 50connected to the private bus 55 see all messages by monitoring theprivate bus 55. A message may be received by either the vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30, or a particular intelligent I/O expander50 based upon the ID contained in the frame. If the ID matches theparticular device, then the device receives the message. The dataportion of a message may contain data, information, or device commands.

In addition, the intelligent I/O expander 50 includes a configurablemulti-device interface 54. The configurable multi-device interface 54provides for connection to a multi-device bus 56 (in an embodiment ofthe invention, the multi-device bus 56 is a Geotab™ intelligentconfiguring cable connection). The multi-device bus 56 in turn providesconnection to an interface 61 of a specific device 60. In an embodimentof the invention, the configurable multi-device interface 54 includesthirteen conductors. There are six conductors for bidirectional serialcommunication that include a data set ready (DSR) conductor, a clear tosend (CTS) conductor, a transmit data conductor (TX), a data terminalready (DTR) conductor, a request to send (RTS) conductor, and a receivedata (RX) conductor. This grouping of conductors is for connecting to afirst type of device, a device that requires serial communication. Thereare also four conductors, AUX1, AUX2, AUX3 and AUX4 for connectingauxiliary devices. This grouping of conductors is for connecting asecond type of device (non-serial communication device). Finally, thereare two ground conductors and one power conductor (12V). The conductorsin association with a Geotab intelligent configuring cable are also usedto establish the type of connection as a serial type or an auxiliariestype and identification of either AUX 1-4, or AUX 5-8. AUX 1-4 and AUX5-8 provide conductors that may be monitored or driven between a highand low state to enable or disable a connected auxiliary. Monitoring ordriving these conductors is dependent upon the particular auxiliarydevice connected to Aux 1-4 and AUX 5-8. Monitoring and driving theseconductors also includes in an embodiment of the invention an autoadjust and resolution feature. For example, when a voltage level isbetween zero and five volts, a number of voltage steps may be associatedwith this range. When a voltage level is between zero and thirty volts,the number of voltage steps is adjusted for resolution for the largerrange of voltages to avoid noise and extraneous data.

The intelligent I/O expander hardware system 50 also includes amicroprocessor 51 and memory 52. Alternatively, the intelligent I/Oexpander hardware system 50 includes a microcontroller 51. Amicrocontroller includes a CPU, RAM, ROM and peripherals. Personsskilled in the art appreciate the term processor contemplates either amicroprocessor and memory or a microcontroller in all embodiments of thedisclosed hardware (vehicle telemetry hardware system 30, intelligentI/O expander hardware system 50, Bluetooth module 45 and Bluetoothbeacon 21). The microprocessor 51 is also connected to the messaginginterface 53 and the configurable multi-device interface 54. In anembodiment of the invention, a microcontroller 51 is an LPC1756 32 bitARM Cortec-M3 device with up to 512 KB of program memory and 64 KB SRAM.The LPC1756 also includes four UARTs, two CAN 2.0B channels, a 12 bitanalog to digital converter, and a 10 bit digital to analog converter.In an alternative embodiment, the intelligent I/O expander hardwaresystem 50 may include text to speech hardware and associated firmware(not illustrated) for audio output of a message to an operator of avehicle 11.

The microprocessor 51, CAN 2.0B controller, and firmware computerprogram stored in the program memory communicate with the messaginginterface 53. The messaging interface 53 and private bus 55 may bemonitored by the Can 2.0B controller to send a message, ignore a sentmessage, or receive a message. For example, a message may be received byan intelligent I/O expander 56 when the message ID matches the expanderID.

The intelligent I/O expander 50 may be operated as a serial type in apassive expander mode or as an auxiliaries type in an active expandermode based upon an established configuration of the device.

Passive Expander Mode

A message received by the intelligent I/O expander 50 over the privatebus 55 is converted or reformatted and sent from the intelligent I/Oexpander 50 to a first type of device connected to the configurablemulti-device interface 54. This is accomplished by the microprocessor 51and firmware computer program. This is a protocol conversion from theformat and structure of the message on the private bus 55 to therequirements of a specific device connected by the multi-device bus 56.

Alternatively, a message received by the intelligent I/O expander 50from a first type of device connected to the configurable multi-deviceinterface 54 is converted or reformatted by the microprocessor 51 andfirmware computer program, provided to the messaging interface 53, andsent over the private bus 55. This is a protocol conversion from theformat and structure of the message for the requirements of the specificdevice 60 to the format and structure required by the private bus 55.

In the passive expander mode, the data portion of the message is passedthrough the intelligent I/O expander 50. The data could be passedthrough from the messaging interface 53 to the configurable multi-deviceinterface 54, or from the configurable multi-device interface 54 to themessaging interface 53. The intelligent I/O expander 50 does not haveany logic or control over a device 60, it performs a protocol conversionbetween interfaces. An example protocol conversion is from a CAN bus(private bus 55) to a serial bus (multi-device bus 56).

Active Expander Mode

In addition to the passive expander mode for the first type of deviceand serial communication with the intelligent I/O expander 50, there isalso an active expander mode for a second type of device (auxiliariestype) and non-serial communication. The microprocessor 51 and firmwarecomputer program monitor the configurable multi-device interface 54 andauxiliaries connected to the configurable multi-device interface 54.Data and information may be buffered in memory 52. The intelligent I/Oexpander 50 has logic and monitoring capability over the device 60(auxiliaries). The intelligent I/O expander 50 also has logic andcapability to communicate or signal a high or low state (on or offfunction) to enable or disable the associated device 60 (auxiliaries).When certain monitoring characteristics are met, the data andinformation may be formatted into a frame and a message containing thedata may be sent over the private bus 55 to the vehicular telemetryhardware system 30. Alternatively, the frame and message may be sent toanother intelligent I/O expander 50.

Devices

A number of difference specific devices 60 may be interfaced to theintelligent I/O expander 50. The configurable multi-device interface 54may accommodate a number of different devices 62 and interfaces 61through the configurable multi-device interface 54 and multi-device bus56. When a specific device 60 is connected to the intelligent I/Oexpander 50, messages, data, or signals may be communicated between thedevice 62 and the intelligent I/O expander 50.

For example, if the specific device 60 is a Garmin™ type of GPS device62 with the fleet management interface (FMI15 or FMI 45), the interface61 to the Garmin device may be connected to the configurablemulti-device interface 54 for communication with the intelligent I/Oexpander 50. In this case, the configurable multi-device interface hasone end and configuration to the configurable multi-device interface 54and a second end and configuration to the interface 61, in this example,a Garmin interface. A Geotab intelligent configuring cable provides amapping of conductors between the interfaces.

The DTE telemetry microprocessor 31 and firmware computer program of thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30 includes the logic, commands, andprotocol instructions for communicating with a Garmin device 62 fordetecting the presence of the device. Otherwise, messages received bythe vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 for a Garmin device are senton the private bus 55 to an intelligent I/O expander that in turnconverts or reformats the message and sends it to the Garmin device. TheGarmin device is an example where the vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30 is in a passive control mode. Aside from very basic logic,commands, and protocol instructions, the firmware does not have a fulland complete set of logic and commands for the device. In this case, thefull and complete set of logic and commands for the device resides inthe MyGeotab application software on the server 19. Initialization ofthe intelligent I/O expander 50 and the vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30 associate the intelligent I/O expander 50 with the passiveexpander mode and the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 with thepassive control mode and device type.

As another example, if the specific device 60 is an Iridium™ type ofsatellite communications device 62, the interface 61 to the Iridiumdevice 62 may also be interfaced to the configurable multi-deviceinterface 54 by the multi-device bus 56 for communication with theintelligent I/O expander 50. In an embodiment of the invention, anIridium 9602SBD may be connected to the intelligent I/O expander 50. TheIridium 9602SBD is a short burst data modem, or transceiver moduledesigned for machine-to-machine solutions for sending and receivingpackets of data. The interface includes a serial data interface, DCpower input, network available output, and power on/off control line. Inthis case, the Geotab configurable multi-device cable 56 has one end andconfiguration to the configurable multi-device interface 54 and a secondend and configuration to the interface 61, in this example, an Iridiuminterface.

The DTE telemetry microprocessor 31 and firmware computer program of thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30 includes the logic, commands, andprotocol instructions for communicating with the Iridium device in orderto send and receive messages (data and information) as well as controlof the device. Example non-limiting commands include acquiring thesatellite, authenticating the transceiver, sending messages, receivingmessages, exchanging status information, and performing modem control.The firmware has a full and complete set of logic and commands for thedevice. This is an example where the vehicular telemetry hardware system30 is in an active control mode. Initialization of the intelligent I/Oexpander 50 and the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 associate theintelligent I/O expander 50 with the passive expander mode and thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30 with the active control mode anddevice type.

Both the Garmin and Iridium devices are examples of a first type ofdevice that requires serial communication for sending and receivingmessages and device data. The server 19 and MyGeotab application programcontain the logic and instructions for operating with a Garmin device.The DTE telemetry microprocessor 31 and firmware computer program of thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30 contain the logic andinstructions for operating with the Iridium device. For example, theMyGeotab application program may create and send a command to a Garmindevice. In this example, the message (including the command in the data)is provided to the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 that convertsor reformats the message to the private bus 55. An intelligent I/Oexpander 50 receives the message, converts or reformats the message tothe multi-device bus 56 where the Garmin device receives the command. Asanother example, the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 may createand send a command to an Iridium device. In this example, a message(including the command in the data) is provided to the private bus 55.An intelligent I/O expander 50 receives the message, converts orreformats the message to the multi-device bus 56 where the Iridiumdevice receives the command. Persons skilled in the art appreciate thata Bluetooth device may be connected and operated in a passive modesimilar to the example description of a Garmin device, or that aBluetooth device may be connected and operated in an active mode similarto the example description of an Iridium device.

As another example, the device 62 could be a series of temperaturesensors that include an interface 61 and connected to the configurablemulti-device interface 54 by another multi-device bus 56. This is anexample of a second type of device, or non-serial communication devicewherein the intelligent I/O expander 50 monitors the second type ofdevice. The microprocessor 51 and firmware computer program of theintelligent I/O expander 50 contain the logic and instructions formonitoring and logging data with the auxiliaries. The server 19 andMyGeotab application program contain the logic and instructions forinterpreting the logged data from the auxiliaries. The MyGeotabapplication program also contains an identification and mapping of eachauxiliary device interfaced to the configurable multi-device interface54 (Aux 1-4, Aux 5-8).

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate the invention may alsoinclude many other specific devices 60 for connection to theconfigurable multi-device interface 54. For example, Geotab specificdevices, 3^(rd) party devices, additional vehicular sensors, smartphones, computers, analog I/O, digital I/O, driver identification, WiFi,900 Mhz Aerocomm, and Bluetooth devices, Bluetooth modules 45 orBluetooth beacons 21.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an embodiment of the invention is furtherdescribed. In this embodiment, the vehicular telemetry hardware system30 includes a messaging interface 53. The messaging interface 53 isconnected to the DTE telemetry microprocessor 31. In addition, amessaging interface 53 in an intelligent I/O expander 50 may beconnected by the private bus 55. The private bus 55 permits messages tobe sent and received between the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30and the intelligent I/O expander, or a plurality of I/O expanders (seeFIG. 5).

Referring now to FIG. 6, an alternate embodiment of the invention isdescribed. In this embodiment, the vehicular telemetry hardware system30 is connected to the intelligent I/O expander through a gateway 80 onthe vehicle connection 43. The vehicle connection 43 is a CAN busproviding communication between the vehicular telemetry hardware system30 and the resident vehicular portion 42. The gateway 80 passes messagesfrom the resident vehicular portion 42 to the vehicular telemetryhardware system 30, but does not allow messages from the vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30 to be sent to the resident vehicularportion 42. However, the DTE telemetry microprocessor 31 is connected tothe interface 36, the vehicle connection 43 and the gateway 80. Thegateway monitors the vehicle connection 43 and permits messages to besent from the DTE telemetry microprocessor 31 to the intelligent I/Oexpander over the private bus 55. In addition, the intelligent I/Oexpander may send messages over the private bus 55 to the gateway 80 andthe gateway may pass the messages to the DTE telemetry microprocessor 31by the vehicle connection 43 and the interface 36. The gateway 80 willnot allow messages to be sent from the intelligent I/O expander 50 tothe vehicle network communication bus 37 over the vehicle connection 43.

Referring now to FIG. 5, multiple intelligent I/O expanders may beconnected in a sequence and structure to each other. The private bus 55is common to all intelligent I/O expanders and the vehicular telemetryhardware system 30. In addition, the vehicular telemetry hardware system30 and each intelligent I/O expander 50 have the messaging interface 53.This permits a daisy chain like connection between the components forsending and receiving messages over the private bus 55. In an embodimentof the invention, up to eight intelligent I/O expanders may be connectedto a vehicular telemetry hardware system. In another embodiment of theinvention, up to two of the intelligent I/O expanders may be auxiliaries(AUX 1-4 and AUX 5-8). Optionally, the last intelligent I/O expander inthe series may include a terminator connected to the last messaginginterface 53 for noise suppression.

Telemetry Wireless Beacon Apparatus

The telemetry wireless beacon apparatus is initially described withreference to FIG. 1. The telemetry wireless beacon apparatus includes atleast one Bluetooth module 45 or device and at least one Beacon module21 or device. For example, current Bluetooth beacon technology isgenerally available from a number of companies to include Estimate,Gimbal™, Onyx Beacon and stickNFIND. The Beacon module 21 canperiodically broadcast an identification and communicate 130 with aBluetooth module 45 in the form of a message with a unique identifier.The Beacon module 21 may or may not include associated data with thebroadcast. The associated data is dependent upon the application andcapability of a particular beacon module 21. The firmware located withthe beacon module 21 may be updated and programmed to accommodate ageneral application or a specific application such as a telemetryapplication or fleet management application.

A first embodiment of the telemetry wireless beacon apparatus isdescribed with reference to FIG. 7A. A beacon module 21 or device isgenerally indicated at 21. In an embodiment of the invention, the beaconmodule 21 includes a microprocessor 132, memory 134 and a Bluetoothradio module 136 with integral antenna. In another embodiment of theinvention, the beacon module 21 may include an accelerometer 138. Inanother embodiment of the invention, the beacon module 21 includessensors 140. In another embodiment of the invention, the beacon module21 includes an accelerometer 138 and sensors 140. The memory 134includes a memory for data and firmware to provide the associated logicto interact with the other components (radio module 136, accelerometer138 and sensors 140) to perform the functionality and messaging of thebeacon module 21. In further embodiments of the beacon module 21, thesensors 140 may include all or one of a temperature sensor, a lightsensor, battery level sensor or a pressure sensor. Persons skilled inthe art will appreciate that other sensors including user-definedsensors may be included with the beacon module 21.

In another embodiment of the invention, a Bluetooth module 45 isintegrated with the intelligent I/O expander 50. An example Bluetoothmodule 45 is a Bluegiga BLE121LR integrated circuit with a connectivityrange of 450 meters. The Bluetooth module 45 includes a microprocessor142, memory 144 and a radio module 146. The memory 144 includes a memoryfor data and firmware to provide the associated logic to interact withthe components (radio module 146 and intelligent I/O expander 50) toperform the functionality and messaging of the Bluetooth module 45. TheBluetooth module 45 or device may comprise a single integrated circuitor a chip set of components. The Bluetooth module 45 furthercommunicates with the microprocessor 51 and messaging interface 53 ofthe intelligent I/O expander 50 for sending and receiving messages anddata.

The beacon module 21 communicates 130 with the Bluetooth module 45 inthe form of a broadcast message and the Bluetooth module 45 receives thebroadcast message when the Bluetooth module is within a pre-definedrange. The beacon module 21 communicates a unique identifier andassociated data to the Bluetooth module. The associated data isdependent upon the type of sensors 140 associated with the beacon module21 and may include accelerometer data, temperature data, illuminationdata, pressure data, battery data or other user-defined sensor data.

Referring now to FIG. 7B, an alternative embodiment of the telemetrywireless beacon apparatus is described. With this embodiment, theBluetooth module is a Bluetooth device external to the intelligent I/Oexpander 50. The Bluetooth device includes an interface 148. Theinterface 148 communicates with the configurable multi-device interface54 of the intelligent I/O expander 50 through the multi-device bus 56.Persons skilled in the art appreciate the external Bluetooth device maybe connected to an intelligent I/o expander 50 in either a passive modeor an active mode depending upon the module and application.

Referring now to FIG. 7C, another alternative embodiment of thetelemetry wireless beacon apparatus is described. With this embodiment,the Bluetooth® module 45 is integral with the vehicular telemetryhardware system 30. The Bluetooth module 45 communicates with the DTETelemetry Microprocessor 31 for sending and receiving messages and data.The Bluetooth module 45 also receives broad cast messages from thebeacon module 21.

In operation of these embodiments (FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C), at least oneBluetooth beacon is associated with at least one object 22 relating tothe vehicle 11. Non-limiting example objects include equipment,equipment associated with a minimum equipment list, sensitive equipment,sensitive objects 22 in transport by the vehicle 11, drivers of thevehicle 11, personnel around the vehicle 11, or objects 22 around thevehicle 11 Each object 22 associated with a Bluetooth beacon uniqueidentifier and optionally the corresponding data is communicatedwirelessly to the Bluetooth module 45 and stored in the memory 144 oralternatively the memory 52 or memory 35. Eventually, each uniqueidentifier and associated data is communicated to the vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30 through the messaging interface 53 andprivate bus 55 or directly into the memory 35 to form a log of data.Alternatively, the unique identifier may be filtered out to communicateonly associated data of interest to the vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30. Alternatively, the associated data may be filtered tocommunicate only associated data that is different from the lastcommunication of the associated data. The vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30 creates a log of unique identifiers and corresponding data.This log may include other data and information such as GPS coordinates,engine data and vehicle data such as speed, position and direction. Thelog, including the unique identifiers and/or associated data arecommunicated from the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 over anetwork 18 to servers 19. After communication of a log of uniqueidentifiers and/or associated data, the vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30 initiates and creates a new log and the process to monitor andlog data repeats. Persons skilled in the art appreciate that theembodiments of FIGS. 7A, 7B and 7C with respect to the location of theBluetooth module 45 are generally applicable to the embodiments of FIGS.2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 such that the location of the Bluetooth module 45 maybe with the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30, the intelligent I/oexpander 50 or a device 60.

Telemetry Wireless Beacon Methods

The telemetry wireless beacon monitoring, logging and communicating datamethod is described with reference to FIG. 17. Engine data, vehicleacceleration data and location data is either monitored, provided orreceived and logged by the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30.Engine data is monitored through the interface 36, vehicle accelerationdata is provided by the accelerometer 34 and location data (latitude andlongitude) is provided by the GPS module 33. In an embodiment of theinvention, the Bluetooth module 45 disposed integral with the vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30 provides Bluetooth beacon data. In analternative embodiment of the invention, the Bluetooth module 45disposed integral with or connected with an intelligent I/O expander 50communicates monitored Bluetooth beacon data to the vehicular telemetryhardware system 30.

The engine is monitored through the interface and the vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30 receives engine data. The accelerometerprovides vehicle accelerometer data to the vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30. The GPS provides GPS data to the vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30. The Bluetooth module 45 also provides Bluetooth beacon 21data to the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30. Persons skilled inthe art appreciate that the monitoring, providing and receipt of datamay be concurrent, sequential parallel or in any non-limiting order. Theengine data, vehicle acceleration data, location data and Bluetoothbeacon 21 data are retained in a log of data (memory 35) by thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30. The vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30 may further communicate the log of data to a remote site 44 orremote devices and computers 20. Once the log of data has beencommunicated, the monitoring, receiving, providing and logging processcontinues with the next log of data.

The Bluetooth beacon 21 data includes a unique identifier andcorresponding data. The unique identifier identifies each Bluetoothbeacon 21. The corresponding data includes at least one of beaconaccelerometer data, beacon temperature data, beacon illumination data,beacon pressure data, beacon battery level data and beacon user definedsensor data dependent upon the type of number of components integral orin communication with the Bluetooth beacon 21.

The remote computer preprocessing method is described also withreference to FIG. 17. A remote computer and application software, forexample the MyGeotab software application receives, or has access to,the communicated log of data from the vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30. The log of data received from the vehicular telemetryhardware system 30 is in the form of raw data. A first preprocessingstep occurs to translate or convert the data into a more useful form.For example, raw engine data into engine codes; raw vehicleaccelerometer data into G forces, minimal G forces, maximum G forces anda range of G forces; raw beacon temperature data into a low, a high andrange of temperatures; raw beacon illumination data into a low, a high,and absence of light or a range of light; raw beacon pressure data intoa low, a high or a range of pressures; and raw beacon user definedsensor data into a low, a high, an absence or range of information.

A second preprocessing step occurs to associate at least one of thetranslated data such as engine codes; speed; G forces; or maplocation(s) with each unique Bluetooth beacon 21 identifier andcorresponding data such as beacon temperature, beacon illumination,pressure or beacon user defined sensor data. Each Bluetooth beacon 21identifier may be further associated with each object 22.

The preprocessing method concludes by storing the preprocessed log ofdata including the translations or conversions and associations. Thepreprocessing method repeats for each receipt of a log of data from thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30.

The remote computer Bluetooth beacon fleet management method isdescribed with reference to FIG. 18. A remote computer and applicationsoftware, for example the MyGeotab software application receives, or hasaccess to, over a communications network such as the Internet, thepreprocessed log of data. Alternatively, the MyGeotab softwareapplication receives, or has access to the log of data. In an embodimentof the invention, the Bluetooth beacon fleet management method includesa step of identifying and associating objects 22 located or associatedwith a vehicle 11. Alternatively, this step may be included in thepreprocessing method. In addition, the Bluetooth beacon fleet managementmethod has access to thresholds and ranges relating to each Bluetoothbeacon 21 and corresponding object 22. For example, these thresholds andranges may include acceptable conditions and unacceptable conditions inthe area of G forces, map locations (geofencing), temperatures,pressures and user-defined sensor limits.

A first case involves the step of identifying and associating eachobject with a vehicle beyond a threshold condition. Each Bluetoothbeacon 21 will broadcast a message with the unique identification, andoptionally data. The Bluetooth module 45 may receive the broadcastmessage when the module is within a range, for example, of 450 meters.That may introduce erroneous results for objects close to a vehicle butnot necessarily with or associated with a vehicle 11. At least one of aBluetooth signal strength, location information, geofencing informationor relative speed of a vehicle 11 compared to thresholds provide adetermination of each object located with a vehicle 11. The outcome ofthis step is an accurate identification of each object having aBluetooth beacon 21 with each vehicle 11. Objects 22 may be determinedas located with a vehicle 11. This involves identifying a beacon uniqueidentifier disposed with an object and the initial vehicle 11 location.Then, the beacon unique identifier is identified at a second vehicle 11location where the second vehicle location is determined by one of avehicle speed or motion, vehicle distance vehicle location or a geofenceevent. When a beacon unique identifier is determined at the secondvehicle location, an accurate number of objects disposed or associatedwith the vehicle 11 are determined. This method occurs for each beaconunique identifier and associated object 22. In addition, the accuratenumber of objects may be further assessed at a third vehicle location orgeofence to determine if there is a missing object condition when abeacon unique identifier is absent at the third vehicle location orgeofence.

A second case involves the step of identifying and associating damage toan object. G force thresholds can be compared to beacon G force data todetermine if an object has sustained damage, for example when dropped.Temperature thresholds can be compared to beacon temperature data todetermine if an object has sustained damage, for example when too coldor too hot or out of an acceptable temperature range for a period oftime. Light thresholds can be compared with beacon illumination data todetermine if an object has been over exposed or under exposed to light.Pressure thresholds can be compared to beacon pressure data to determineif an object has sustained damage, for example with too much or toolittle pressure. User defined thresholds can also be compared to beaconuser defined sensor data. When the corresponding data exceeds a damagethreshold such as a range, or upper limit or lower limit or combinationof range and limits, or time based limit, then a damaged objectcondition is determined. The method involves accessing the preprocessedtelemetry log of telemetry data to identify a beacon unique identifierand beacon data. Then, comparing the beacon data with the threshold dataand when the beacon data is beyond a damage threshold value or a damagelimit value, indicate the object is damaged. Damage threshold values andlimits include G forces, temperatures, pressures or user defined values.

A third case involves the step of identifying and associating hazardousobjects with a potential dangerous condition. G force thresholds, ortemperature thresholds or light thresholds or pressure thresholds oruser defined thresholds can be compared to the corresponding data. Whenthe corresponding data exceeds a hazardous threshold, a range or upperlimit or lower limit or combination or range and limits, or time basedlimit, a hazardous object condition is determined. The method involvesaccessing the preprocessed telemetry log of telemetry data to identify abeacon unique identifier and beacon data. Then, comparing the beacondata with the threshold data and when the beacon data is beyond ahazardous threshold value or a hazardous limit value, indicate theobject is hazardous. Hazardous threshold values and limits include Gforces, temperatures, pressures or user defined values.

A forth case involves the step of identifying and associating eachobject with a vehicle beyond a threshold condition. Each Bluetoothbeacon 21 will broadcast the unique identification, and optionally data.The Bluetooth module 45, when the module is within a range, for example,of 450 meters may receive the broadcast message. At least one of aBluetooth signal strength, location information, geofencing informationor relative speed of a vehicle 11 compared to thresholds provide adetermination of each object located with a vehicle 11. The outcome ofthis step is an accurate identification of each object having aBluetooth beacon 21 with each vehicle 11 compared to a minimum equipmentor minimum object list. When the corresponding data does not equate to aminimum equipment or minimum object list, a missing item condition isdetermined.

Persons skilled in the art appreciate that the four cases may beexecuted in parallel, a sequence or concurrently. Once a damaged objectcondition, or a hazardous object condition or missing item condition isdetermined, then a course of corrective action is communicated as amessage to a computer 20, a compliance report, a management report or anaudio message to an operator of a vehicle 11 through a text to speechcapable intelligent I/O expander 50.

Intelligent I/O Expansion System Methods

The DTE telemetry microprocessor 31, firmware computer program, andmemory 35 include the instructions, logic, and control to execute theportions of the method that relate to the vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30. The microprocessor 51, firmware computer program, and memory52 include the instructions, logic and control to execute the portionsof the method that relate to the intelligent I/O expander 50 as well asthe logic and control to execute portions of the method that relate tothe Bluetooth module 45.

Referring now to FIG. 8, an initialization method of the intelligent I/Oexpander 50 and the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 is describedwith respect to a first case (serial port type detected). Theinitialization for the intelligent I/O expander 50 is generallyindicated at 90.

The initialization method 90 starts with determining the I/O expanderport type (either serial port type or auxiliaries port type). In anembodiment of the invention, if there is no short between the RX and TXconductors, and there is no short between the CTS and RTS conductors,then the port is determined to be a serial port type. This isaccomplished by the firmware sensing the conductors in the configurablemulti-device interface 54 and checking for shorted conductors. For thiscase, set the port type to serial and set the state or mode to passiveexpander mode. Send a message over the private bus 55 to the vehiculartelemetry hardware system ID with the I/O expander ID and an indicationthat the port type is serial. This message will be received by thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30. This informs the vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30 that an intelligent I/O expander with aparticular ID number is configured as a serial port type in a passiveexpander mode.

The initialization method for the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30is generally indicated at 91. This initialization method 91 receives amessage from the I/O expander 50 over the private bus 55. The messageincludes an I/O expander ID and an indication to the port type, in thisfirst case a serial port type in a passive expander mode. The vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30 sends a message to the I/O expander ID thatwill query the device type connected to the intelligent I/O expander 50.The intelligent I/O expander 50 will convert or reformat the messagereceived on the private bus 55 and pass the message to the device 62over the multi-device bus 56. The device 62 will identify itself andsend back a message to the intelligent I/O expander 50 over themulti-device bus 56. The intelligent I/O expander 50 in turn willconvert or reformat this message and send the message over the privatebus 55. The vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 will receive themessage with the I/O expander ID and the device type.

The query of the device type may occur in a number of different ways.For example, if the vehicular telemetry hardwire system is looking todetermine if a Garmin device 62 is connected to an intelligent I/Oexpander 50, then the message to the intelligent I/O expander 50 isbased upon the Garmin protocol to detect the presence of a Garmindevice. If a Garmin device is connected, then the Garmin device willsend back a message indicating a Garmin device is present. If a Garmindevice is not present, there will not be any message sent back and atime out will occur. Assuming a Garmin device is detected, and then thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30 is set to a passive control mode.The Garmin device is an example of a passive control device and personsskilled in the art will appreciate that other types of devices may alsobe included in the passive control mode. A Garmin like query andresponse may also occur for the case of a Bluetooth module 45 connectedto an intelligent I/O expander 50 interface in a passive control mode.

As another example, if the vehicular telemetry hardware system islooking to determine if an Iridium device 62 is connected to anintelligent I/O expander 40, then the message is based upon the Iridiummodem protocol to detect the present of an Iridium device. If an Iridiumdevice is connected, the Iridium device will send back a messageindicating an Iridium device is present. If an Iridium device is notpresent, there will not be any message sent back and a time out willoccur. Assuming an Iridium device is detected, and then the vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30 is set to an active control mode. TheIridium device is an example of an active control device and personsskilled in the art will appreciate that other types of devices may alsobe included in the active control mode. An Iridium like query andresponse may also occur for the case of a Bluetooth module 45 connectedto an intelligent I/O expander 50 interface in an active control mode.

The method for the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 continuesthrough a list of potential serial devices until the list has beencompleted. The vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 may alsoperiodically check for additional intelligent I/O expanders 50 to ensureexpanders later added are identified and configured.

In addition, while the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 firmwaremay contain the necessary instructions, logic and protocol for deviceslike Garmin, Iridium and Bluetooth, additional instructions, logic, andprotocols may be provided to the firmware, or received by the vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30 in real time by sending from the server 19the associated logic and firmware for storage in the memory 35 of thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30.

Referring now to FIG. 10, the initialization method of the intelligentI/O expander 50 and the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 isfurther described with respect to a second case. The second caseinitialization for the intelligent I/O expander 50 is generallyindicated at 94.

The initialization method 94 starts with determining the I/O expanderport type (either serial or auxiliaries). In an embodiment of theinvention, if there is a short between the RX and TX conductors, thenaux 1-4 has been detected. In an embodiment of the invention, if thereis a short between the CTS conductor and the RTS conductor, then aux 5-8has been detected. The microprocessor 51 and firmware computer programin the intelligent I/O expander 50 sense the conductors and determine ifthere is a short between conductors. This provides for detecting theconfiguration of the port as either AUX 1-4 or AUX 5-8 to the vehiculartelemetry hardware system ID. For this case, set the port type to aux1-4 or aux 5-8 and set the state or mode to active expander mode. Send amessage over the private bus 55 with the I/O expander ID and indicatethe port type as either aux 1-4 or aux 5-8. This message will bereceived by the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30. This informs thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30 that an intelligent I/O expanderwith a particular ID number is configured as an auxiliaries device andAUX 1-4 or AUX 5-8.

The initialization method for the second case of the vehicular telemetryhardware system 30 is generally indicated at 95. This initializationmethod 95 receives a message from the I/O expander 50 over the privatebus 55. The message includes an I/O expander ID and an indication to theport type as either aux 1-4 or aux 5-8. Since this is recognized as anactive expander mode, the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 sends amessage to the I/O expander ID that includes monitoring characteristicsfor the intelligent I/O expander 50.

The intelligent I/O expander 50 receives the message from the vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30 over the private bus 55 and starts theauxiliaries initialization generally indicated at 96. The messageincludes the I/O expander ID and the specific monitoring characteristicsfor the intelligent I/O expander 50. The intelligent I/O expander 50then sets the monitoring characteristics for the auxiliaries connectedto the configurable multi-device interface 54. Monitoringcharacteristics are not limited to but may include thresholds andchanges in values.

The vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 and each intelligent I/Oexpander 50 connected to the system complete the initialization methodspreviously described with reference to FIG. 8 and FIG. 10 to determinewhat devices are connected to what intelligent I/O expanders 50, to setthe I/O expander mode (passive or active), and to set the vehiculartelemetry hardware system mode (active control or passive control), andto associate IDs in the system.

In an embodiment of the invention, there is a cabling technique forconnecting each device 62 and interface 61 to the configurablemulti-device interface 54. For the case with serial devices, theconductors required for serial communication at the configurablemulti-device interface 54 are mapped by a Geotab intelligent configuringcable and provided to the interface 61. This may vary from specificdevice 60 to specific device 60. This also provides an interfacingcapability, for example between and intelligent I/O expander 50 and aGarmin device, or an intelligent I/O expander 50 and an Iridium device,or an intelligent I/O expander 50 and a Bluetooth device.

In addition, the cabling technique also identifies the port type ofserial or auxiliaries (AUX 1-4, AUX 5-8). For example, if the Geotabintelligent configuring cable internally shorts the RX and TX conductorsof the serial interface conductors, then AUX 1-4 is established on theAUX conductors. As another example, if the Geotab intelligentconfiguring cable internally shorts the CTS and RTS conductors of theserial interface conductors, then an AUX 5-8 is established on the AUXconductors. Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that othertechniques may be applied to identify the port type of serial orauxiliaries (AUX 1-4 and AUX 5-8).

The method and operation of the intelligent I/O expander 50 for the caseof a serial port type is now described with reference to FIG. 9.Communication to a device attached to an intelligent I/O expander 50 isgenerally indicated at 92. Communication may either begin at a remotesite or device (server 19) where a message is sent to the vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30 that in turn is received by the vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30. Alternatively, a message may be generatedby the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30. The vehicular telemetryhardware system 30 may send a message to an intelligent I/O expander 50with an I/O expander ID and message on the private bus 55 through themessaging interface 53. The intelligent I/O expander 50 receives themessage (ID's match) from the messaging interface 53 including the I/Oexpander ID and message. The intelligent I/O expander converts orreformats the message for the device associated with the configurablemulti-device interface 54 and sends the message to the multi-deviceinterface 54. A specific device 60 (for example Garmin or Iridium)receives the message through the interface 61.

Communication from a specific device 60 connected to an intelligent I/Oexpander 50 is generally indicated at 93. Communication may also beginwith the specific device 60. A specific device 60 may send a message tothe intelligent I/O expander 50 on the multi-device bus 56 and to theconfigurable multi device interface 54. The intelligent I/O expander 50will receive and convert or reformat the message for the messaginginterface 53. The intelligent I/O expander 50 will send the I/O expanderID and message through the messaging interface 53 to the private bus 55.The vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 receives the message from themessaging interface 53 with the I/O expander ID and message. Thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30 may either log the data from thereceived message, or it may communicate the received message or data toa remote site (server 19) for further processing.

When the microprocessor 51 and firmware computer program convert orreformat messages, it may take several messages and reformatting of themessages. For example, in an embodiment of the invention, messagesreceived over the private bus 55 have a data limitation of up to eightbytes. It may take several messages over the private bus 55 in order toreceive the required data for sending to a specific device 60. In thiscase, messages received over the private bus 55 may be buffered inmemory 52. Then, the data buffered in memory 52 may be reformatted tocreate a message for sending over the multi-device bus 56.Alternatively, messages received over the multi-device bus 56 may bebuffered in memory 52 and subsequently reformatted to create a message,or multiple messages for sending over the private bus 55. The firmwarecomputer program contains the instructions and logic for converting andreformatting messages between the two busses. Alternatively, severalmessages containing partial information may be sent directly if systemspeed permits sending partial information sequentially.

Operation for the case of an auxiliaries port type is now described withreference to FIG. 11. Communicating with an intelligent I/O expander 50is generally indicated at 97. Communication may either begin at a remotesite (server 19) where a message is sent to the vehicular telemetryhardware system 30, which in turn is received by the vehicular telemetryhardware system 30, or a message may be generated by the vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30. The vehicular telemetry hardware system 30may send a message to an I/O expander with an I/O expander ID andmessage on the messaging interface 53. The intelligent I/O expander willreceive the message (ID's match) and set or modify monitoringcharacteristics for the associated auxiliaries. If there are twointelligent I/O expanders 50 configured as auxiliaries, one expanderwould be AUX 1-4 and the other would be AUX 5-8.

Communication from the intelligent I/O expander 50 is generallyindicated at 98. The intelligent I/O expander 50 monitors theauxiliaries through the configurable multi-device interface 54 basedupon the monitoring characteristics. When changes are detected, or abovea threshold, or below a threshold, the data is recorded in memory 52 ofthe intelligent I/O expander 50. The recorded data may be analog data,digital data, or both analog and digital data. The intelligent I/Oexpander may formulate a message and send the I/O expander ID andmessage to the messaging interface 53. The vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30 receives the message (ID's match) over the messaging interface53 and logs the data contained in the message into memory 35. Data fromauxiliaries may be logged as analog, digital, or both analog and digitalvalues. The vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 may also communicatethe data to a remote site (server 19).

Operation of the overall system will be explained with an example asillustrated in FIG. 12 where there are three intelligent I/O expandersconnected to the private bus 55 and the vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30. The intelligent I/O expanders include a Garmin device 60,(Garmin interface 61 and type of device 62) an Iridium device 70,(Iridium interface 71 and type of device 72), and additional vehiclesensors 75 as AUX 1-4 (77) and AUX interface 76. In addition, there is aGeotab intelligent configuring cable 73 between the multi-deviceinterface 54 (50′) and Garmin interface 61 cable 63, a Geotabintelligent configuring cable 73 between the multi-device interface 54(50″) and Iridium interface 71, and a Geotab intelligent configuringcable 73 between multi-device interface 54 (50′″) and auxiliariesinterface 76. The additional vehicle sensors in this example includedrivers side door (open/close), passengers side door (open/close), andcargo door (open/close) (AUX 1, 2, and 3) (AUX 4 is not used).

Under normal operation, the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 andDCE wireless telemetry communications microprocessor 32 communicatemessages over the cellular network 17. This is referred to as theprimary path 100.

If the message 111 originates with the vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30, the message 111 would be sent over the cellular network 17,or primary path 100 and received by the server 19 as the message 110. Ifthe message 110 originates with the server 19, the message 110 would besent over the cellular network 19, or primary path 100 and received bythe vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 as message 111.

If for some reason the cellular network 17 is unavailable, then thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30 and DTE telemetry microprocessor31 may continue to communicate over the satellite network 13 (assumingand intelligent I/O expander 50 and Iridium like satellitecommunications device). This is referred to as a secondary path 101 and102. In this case, an intelligent I/O expander 50″ is interfaced to thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30 and initialized and configured asa serial type in an passive expander mode and the vehicular telemetryhardware system 30 is initialized in an active control mode with theinstructions and logic for control and operation of the serial device(Iridium device 70).

If the message 111 originates with the vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30, the message 111 would be sent over the private bus 55 to anintelligent I/O expander 50″ with the Iridium device 70. The messagewould be converted or reformatted by the intelligent I/O expander 50 andsent to the Iridium device 70 over the multi-device bus 56 and cable 73.The Iridium device 70 would then provide satellite communications 12 andthe server 19 would receive the message as 110.

Additionally, a message 110 could be sent by the server 19 and receivedby the Iridium device 70 and provided to the intelligent I/O expander50″ through the multi-device bus 56 and cable 73. The intelligent I/Oexpander 50″ would send a converted or reformatted message to thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30 over the private bus 55 and themessage would be received as 111.

Referring now to FIG. 13, a further example of an embodiment of theinvention is described. In this example, an intelligent I/O expander 50′is initialized and configured as a serial type in a passive expandermode and the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 is configured in apassive control mode and may convert or reformat the message between theserver 19 and the intelligent I/O expander 50′.

Starting with a message 121 in the server 19 to be sent to a Garmindevice 60. The message 121 may be provided to the vehicular telemetryhardware system 30 by way of either the primary path 100 or thesecondary path 101,102 as previously described. The vehicular telemetryhardware system 30 receives the message as 122 and converts or reformatsthe message for sending the message over the private bus 55 to theintelligent I/O expander 50′ identified with the Garmin device 60. Theintelligent I/O expander 50 receives the message over the privateinterface 53 (50′) and converts or reformats the message by themicroprocessor 51 and memory 52. The message is then sent over themulti-device interface 54 (50′), Geotab intelligent configuring cable 56to the Garmin interface 61 where the Garmin device receives the messageat 123.

Additionally, a message 123 could be provided to the server 19. Themessage 123 is provided by the Garmin device 60 to the Garmin interface61, the Geotab intelligent configuring cable 56, and received by theintelligent I/O expander 50 through the multi-device interface 54 (50′).The intelligent I/O expander 50′ converts or reformats the message andprovides the message to the private interface 53 (50′) and the privatebus 55 to the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30. The vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30 converts or reformats the message 122 andprovides the message to the server 19 as 121 by way of the primary path100 or the secondary path 101, 102.

Referring now to FIG. 14, a further example of an embodiment of theinvention is described. In this example, an intelligent I/O expander50′″ is initialized and configured as an auxiliaries type in an activeexpander mode and interfaced by the Geotab™ intelligent configuringcable 78 to the auxiliaries.

In a first embodiment of the invention, the vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30 may have the monitoring characteristics for the intelligentI/O expander 50′″ as a message 113. The message 113 is provided by thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30 over the private bus 55 to theprivate interface 53 of the intelligent I/O expander 50′″ as 113. Themicroprocessor 51 and memory 52 of the intelligent I/O expander 50′″establish monitoring of the auxiliaries based upon the monitoringcharacteristics in the message 113.

Additionally, the server 19 may provide the monitoring characteristics.A message 112 is provided to the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30by way of the primary path 100 or the secondary path 101, 102. Thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30 will convert or reformat themessage 112 and provide the message to the intelligent I/O expander 50′″over the private bus 55 and private interface 53 of the expander 50′″.The microprocessor 51 and memory 52 of the intelligent I/O expander 50′″establish monitoring of the auxiliaries based upon the monitoringcharacteristics in the message 112.

Referring now to FIG. 15, a further example of an embodiment of theinvention is described. In this example, an intelligent I/O expander50′″ is initialized and configured as an auxiliaries type in the activemode and interface by the Geotab intelligent configuring cable 78 to theauxiliaries. Furthermore, the intelligent I/O expander 50′″ has receivedthe monitoring characteristics and is monitoring the auxiliaries.

Upon detecting a change or a threshold event, data 114 is captured bythe intelligent I/O expander 50′″ through the cable 78 and multi-deviceinterface 54. The microprocessor 51 and memory 52 of the intelligent I/Oexpander 50′″ create a message 115 containing the data 114. The message115 is provided to the vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 by way ofthe private interface 53 of the intelligent I/O expander 50′″ and theprivate bus 55.

The vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 converts or reformats themessage 116 and logs the data. The vehicular telemetry hardware system30 may further provide the data in a message to the server 19 by way ofthe primary path 100 or the secondary path 101, 102. Applicationsoftware on the server 19 receives the message and associated data 114for further analysis. The application software has an associated log tounderstand what types of auxiliaries are associated with AUX 1-4 as wellas AUX 5-8. For example, AUX 1 is door (open/close), AUX 2 is passengersside door (open/close), and AUX 3 is cargo door (Open/close).

A final example is described with reference to FIG. 16. The vehiculartelemetry hardware system 30 is monitoring the resident vehicularportion 42 over the vehicle connection 43. Data 118 may be logged by thevehicular telemetry hardware system 30. The vehicular telemetry hardwaresystem 30 may provide the data 118 as a message 119 to the server 19 asmessage 120. The message 119 may be provided to the server by way of theprimary path 100 or the secondary path 101, 102 (if an intelligent I/Oexpander with an Iridium like satellite communications device ispresent). The vehicular telemetry hardware system 30 may provide thedata immediately to the server 19 by way of the Iridium device upondetecting a significant event such as an accident.

Embodiments of the present invention provide one or more technicaleffects. Intelligent expansion of a vehicular telemetry hardware system.Protocol conversion, converting or reformatting of messages between aprivate bus and a multi-device bus. Configurable intelligent I/Oexpanders 50 as either a serial type or an auxiliaries type. IntelligentI/O expanders configurable to either a passive expander mode or anactive expander mode. A vehicular telemetry hardware system configurablein part for an active control mode or a passive control mode. Logicalrecognition of auxiliary conductors as either AUX 1-4 or AUX 5-8.Monitoring and data logging of auxiliaries. Parallel processing ofauxiliaries connected to an intelligent I/O expander reducing theworkload of the vehicular telemetry hardware system microprocessor.Monitoring and data logging of Bluetooth beacon unique identifiers andassociated beacon data such as beacon accelerometer data, beacontemperature data, beacon luminance or light data, beacon pressure data,beacon battery level or beacon user defined sensor data. Communicationof the Bluetooth beacon unique identifiers and associated data to aserver and the MyGeotab software application for further processing andanalysis. Further processing to indicate for each object associated witheach unique identifier a harsh or out of limit acceleration,temperature, light and/or pressure leading to damage conditions,hazardous conditions or missing object conditions. Distributed controllogic and machine instructions between a server, a vehicular telemetryhardware system, and intelligent I/O expander.

While the present invention has been described with respect to thenon-limiting embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention isnot limited to the disclosed embodiments. Persons skilled in the artunderstand that the disclosed invention is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope ofthe appended claims. Thus, the present invention should not be limitedby any of the described embodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: identifying at least onedevice within communication range of a receiver associated with avehicle; for each device of the at least one device within communicationrange of the receiver: obtaining information indicating a location ofthe device; and comparing the information indicating the location of thedevice to a geofence associated with the vehicle; and when a result ofthe comparing indicates that the device is located within the geofenceassociated with the vehicle, storing information identifying that thedevice is associated with the vehicle.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein: the identifying, the obtaining, the comparing to the geofence,and the storing indicate any devices associated with the vehicle for afirst time; and the method further comprises: repeating, for a secondtime, the identifying, the obtaining, the comparing to the geofence, andthe storing, to indicate any devices associated with the vehicle for asecond time; and when one or more devices are determined to have beenassociated with the vehicle for both the first time and the second time,storing information identifying that the one or more device areconfirmed to be associated with the vehicle.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the second time is a time that the vehicle is in a differentgeographic location than the geographic location of the vehicle at thefirst time.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein: the identifying, theobtaining, the comparing to the geofence, and the storing indicate anydevices associated with the vehicle for a first time; and the methodfurther comprises: repeating, for a second time, the identifying, theobtaining, the comparing to the geofence, and the storing, to indicateany devices associated with the vehicle for at least one second time todetermine whether each device that was determined to be associated withthe vehicle for the first time is still associated with the vehicle ateach of the at least one second time.
 5. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising: in response to determining, at one of the at least onesecond time, that a first device, of the at least one device, that waspreviously identified as associated with the vehicle is no longerassociated with the vehicle, triggering an alert regarding the firstdevice.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receivingenvironmental information from a first device, of the at least onedevice, determined to be associated with the vehicle; and in response todetermining that the environmental information meets one or moreconditions associated with potential damage, triggering an alertregarding the first device.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein: theenvironmental information is acceleration data indicating anacceleration force to which the first object was subjected; anddetermining that the environmental information meets one or moreconditions associated with potential damage comprises determining thatthe acceleration force is outside of a range and/or above or below oneor more thresholds.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein: the environmentalinformation is temperature data indicating a temperature to which thefirst object was subjected; and determining that the environmentalinformation meets one or more conditions associated with potentialdamage comprises determining that the temperature is outside of a rangeand/or above or below one or more thresholds.
 9. The method of claim 6,wherein: the environmental information is pressure data indicating apressure to which the first object was subjected; and determining thatthe environmental information meets one or more conditions associatedwith potential damage comprises determining that the pressure is outsideof a range and/or above or below one or more thresholds.
 10. The methodof claim 6, wherein: the environmental information is light dataindicating a light exposure to which the first object was subjected; anddetermining that the environmental information meets one or moreconditions associated with potential damage comprises determining thatthe light exposure is outside of a range and/or above or below one ormore thresholds.
 11. The method of claim 6, wherein: the environmentalinformation indicates a time period over which the first object wassubjected to an environment; and determining that the environmentalinformation meets one or more conditions associated with potentialdamage further comprises determining that the environment and the timeperiod over which the first object was subjected to the environment isoutside of a range and/or above or below one or more thresholds.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, wherein identifying the at least one device withincommunication range comprises receiving, with the receiver, at least onesignal broadcast from each device of the at least one device, eachsignal of the at least one signal each including an identifier for thedevice that broadcast the signal.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein:the vehicle is arranged to carry a plurality of objects; each device ofthe at least one device is associated with an object; and the methodfurther comprises identifying, for each device that is identified asassociated with the vehicle, that an object associated with the deviceis positioned to travel with the vehicle.
 14. The method of claim 13,wherein: each object of the plurality of objects is a package; andidentifying, for each device that is identified as associated with thevehicle, that an object associated with the device is positioned totravel with the vehicle comprises identifying that the vehicle is loadedwith the package.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the receiver isintegrated with the vehicle.
 16. A system comprising: a plurality ofobjects, each object of the plurality of object being associated with adevice of a plurality of devices; a vehicle; and at least one monitoringdevice comprising: at least one processor; and at least onecomputer-readable storage medium having encoded thereon executableinstructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causethe at least one processor to carry out a method comprising: identifyingat least one device, of the plurality of devices, within communicationrange of the at least one monitoring device; for each device of the atleast one device within communication range of the at least onemonitoring device: obtaining information indicating a location of thedevice; and comparing the information indicating the location of thedevice to a geofence associated with the vehicle; and when a result ofthe comparing indicates that the device is located within the geofenceassociated with the vehicle, storing information identifying that theobject that is associated with device is associated with the vehicle.17. The system of claim 16, wherein: the identifying, the obtaining, thecomparing to the geofence, and the storing indicate any devicesassociated with the vehicle for a first time; and the method furthercomprises: repeating, for a second time, the identifying, the obtaining,the comparing to the geofence, and the storing, to indicate any devicesassociated with the vehicle for a second time; and when one or moredevices are determined to have been associated with the vehicle for boththe first time and the second time, storing information identifying thatthe one or more device are confirmed to be associated with the vehicle.18. The system of claim 16, wherein: the identifying, the obtaining, thecomparing to the geofence, and the storing indicate any devicesassociated with the vehicle for a first time; and the method furthercomprises: repeating, for a second time, the identifying, the obtaining,the comparing to the geofence, and the storing, to indicate any devicesassociated with the vehicle for at least one second time to determinewhether each device that was determined to be associated with thevehicle for the first time is still associated with the vehicle at eachof the at least one second time.
 19. At least one computer-readablestorage medium having encoded thereon executable instructions that, whenexecuted by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor tocarry out a method comprising: identifying at least one device withincommunication range of a receiver associated with a vehicle; for eachdevice of the at least one device within communication range of thereceiver: obtaining information indicating a location of the device; andcomparing the information indicating the location of the device to ageofence associated with the vehicle; and when a result of the comparingindicates that the device is located within the geofence associated withthe vehicle, storing information identifying that the device isassociated with the vehicle.
 20. The at least one computer-readablestorage medium of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises:receiving environmental information from a first device, of the at leastone device, determined to be associated with the vehicle; and inresponse to determining that the environmental information meets one ormore conditions associated with potential damage, triggering an alertregarding the first device.